FDU Poll: New Jersey residents do not support full legalization of recreational marijuana

A strong majority of New Jersey residents, 68%, favor reforming the state’s law concerning marijuana use, but most, 53%, do not favor making the recreational use and sale of the drug legal, according to an FDU Public Mind Poll released this morning.

27% of the 810 NJ adults surveyed in the poll think NJ’s pot laws should stay as-is.  26% think weed use should be decriminalized.  42% favor full legalization. Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie’s New Low

Govenor Chris Christie at his Belmar Town Hall on July 31, 2014

Only 18% of New Jersey registered voters approve of Governor Chris Christie’s job performance and 73% disapprove, according to a FDU Public Mind Poll released this morning.  52% of registered Republicans disapprove of Christie’s performance.  33% of Republicans approve.

“A proposed renovation of the statehouse may improve the executive wing, but public attitudes are proving more difficult to change. This is the lowest recorded approval rating for any New Jersey governor in the years since the FDU poll has been measuring voter attitudes,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind.

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FDU Poll: Most in New Jersey oppose casinos outside of Atlantic City

A majority of New Jersey residents oppose expanding legalized gambling in the State beyond the borders of Atlantic City, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson Public Mind Poll released this morning.  50 percent oppose casinos outside of AC. 42 percent favor expanding gambling venues in New Jersey.

Men favor casinos elsewhere in the State by a small margin, 48-46, while women are opposed , 53-36.  Young adults aged 18-34 are in favor of gambling venues outside of AC, 52-38.  Those aged 35-50 are opposed, 53-41 and those over 60 are opposed by a 56-36 margin.

Of the 819 respondents, those who have been to Atlantic City within the last 12 months are most likely to favor casinos elsewhere in New Jersey, by a 52-35 margin.  Those who have been to casinos elsewhere but not in AC favor new gaming halls in New Jersey by a much narrower margin, 47-45.  Those who have not been to a casino in the last 12 month are opposed to expanding gambling in NJ by 45-40.

When asked if they favored expanding to the Meadowlands or Monmouth Park in Oceanport, the Meadowlands was favored.  Respondents favored opening casinos in the Meadowlands by a 47-45 margin.  They opposed casino gambling at Monmouth Park by narrow 44-43 margin.

The margin of error of the poll is +/- 3.4%

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FDU Poll: Christie Is Immune From Anger At Washington Republicans, But Other NJ Republicans Are Not

We’ll find out tomorrow night if Governor Chris Christie’s 11th push for coattails is working, but an FDU Public Mind Poll released this morning indicates that the Republican brand has been damaged by the antics of Congressional Republicans and that Christie’s personal popularity is not enough to overcome New Jersey’s Democratic tilt.

FDU surveyed 1206 registered voters last week on how they feel about the job Christie is doing in New Jersey, President Obama’s handling of the federal budget negotiations and  Congressional Democrats and Republicans handling of the federal budget negotiations.

As has consistently been the case over the last year, Christie’s approval numbers are very strong. The governor’s approval rating is positive 61%-24%.  Obama’s handling of the federal budget is disapproved of by 52% of NJ voters and approved by only 38%. Congressional Democrats got a negative rating from 57% with only 32% approving.  75% disapprove of how Congressional Republicans have handled the federal budget, including 79% of Independents and 58% of Republican voters.  Only 14% of NJ voters, 33% of Republicans, approve of the job Congressional Republicans are doing on the budget.

FDU altered the order of their questions before asking participants their partisan identification.   Those who were asked about Congressional Republicans immediately before being asked their party ID, were less likely to say they are Republican or that they would vote Republican.

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NJ Consumer Confidence Jumps

Matthew Morehead, dog groomer and Democratic candidate for Assembly looking confident. facebook photo

Optimism among New Jersey consumers rebounded strongly over the last six months, according to a survey released by the FDU Public Mind Poll this morning.

37% of the 588 residents surveyed said their finances are better than they were a year ago, up from 18% in January and 26% last July.

51% believe their finances will be better in the year to come, up from 34% in January and 38% in July, 2012.

 “We’ve not seen numbers this good in quite some time,” said Krista Jenkins, director of PublicMind and professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. “Despite Hurricane Sandy and an unemployment rate that has left many in the state without work or underemployed, the past year has been good for many Garden State residents.”

72% expect the value of their homes to rise over the next year, compared to only 48% who thought so in January.

“This is an election year, and what people think about their finances is often a big consideration when choosing for whom to vote. Time will tell how strong an influence pocketbook issues will be in shaping the outcome of upcoming elections,” said Jenkins. “One thing is for certain, however, and that’s the rosier view people seem to have these days about the state of their own bottom lines.”

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FDU Public Mind Poll is bad news for Frank Pallone and the politicos who want to replace him

The hopes of Middlesex and Monmouth County mayors, freeholders and legislators hoping to move to Washington in early 2015 as the newly elected representive of the 6th Congressional district were set back a bit this morning by a new FDU Public Mind Poll that shows Newark Mayor Cory Booker dominating the Democratic field to replace Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Congressman Frank Pallone has been considered Booker’s main competition for the 2014 Democratic U.S. Senate nomination among the media and political establishment.  However,  12th District Congressman Rush Holt has almost twice the support among self identified Democrats than Pallone does, according the FDU survey.

FDU surveyed its respondents cable news viewing habits, polling the trustworthiness of CNN, FoxNews and MSNBC.  Given Holt’s surprising showing, they should have surveyed how many of their respondents are Jeopardy fans.  Holt is famous for being a five time Jeopardy winner and beating IBM’s supercomputer, “Watson,” on the TV trivia game show.

Booker leads the Democratic U.S. Senate field with 50% support. Pallone got only 4% and Holt 7%. 32% of the respondents are unsure and are probably Wheel of Fortune fans.

Frank Pallone aged 30 years

Unless Booker becomes incapacitated running into fire, shoveling snow, or leaping a tall building in a single bound, Pallone is likely to remain in the House of Representatives until he’s Launtenberg’s age.

Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal, Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik, former Edison Mayor Jun Choi and Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman best hopes for becoming a congressman is if Gerald Rivera manages to beat Booker next year in the general election and then Pallone beating Rivera in 2020. But that is not much of a hope, as FDU says Booker will beat Geraldo 52%-21%.

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FDU Public Mind Poll: Christie transcending partisanship in a Democratic leaning state

Governor Chris Christie continues to enjoy sky high approval ratings among New Jersey voters and is heavily favored to be reelected in November, according to a Farleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Poll released this morning.

66% of New Jersey voters, including 55% of Democrats and 61% of Independents approve of the governor’s job performance.  If the election were held today, Christie would defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Barbara Buono by 58%-22% with 20% unsure. Christie would garner 36% of the Democratic vote.

48% say they like the Christie personally and like his policies. 18% like him, but not his policies. 12% don’t like the man, but like his policies and 17% don’t like him or his policies.  5% are comatose and were awakened by the pollster’s phone call.

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Christie’s approval ratings surge on Sandy performance

An FDU Public Mind Poll released this morning gives Governor Christie an approval rating 10 points higher than the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll poll released last week.

FDU re-surveyed a group they had polled from October 26th through 29th during the week before Thanksgiving.  Christie’s approval rating went from 56% before Superstorm Sandy to 77% following the hurricane.

The Rutgers-Eagleton poll released on November 21 gave the governor a 67% approval rating, post-Sandy, amongst registered voters.

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FDU Poll: 55% of New Jersey voters approve of Christie but don’t know why

In the first poll conducted by their new Executive Director, Dr. Krista Jenkins, FDU’s Public Mind Poll found that 55% of New Jersey’s registered voters approve of Governor Chris Christie.  The electorate is divided over whether they like the governor for his personality or his policies.

36% say they like Christie and his policies, 29% don’t like him personally or his policies. 14% like his personally but don’t like his policies while another 14% like his policies but not his personality.

Christie suffers a gender gap.  61% of men approve of his performances compared to only 49% of women. 54% of men say the state is on the right track, compared to 44% of women.

FDU did not distinguish between registered voters and likely voters.

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Poll Dancing

Last month there was something of a controversy over the veracity of the Monmouth University vs the Quinnipiac University polls rating Governor Christie’s performance.  Within one week there was an 11 point swing in Christie’s approval ratings.  A Quinnipiac poll indicated a sky high 59%-36% approval rating for the Guv followed a week later by a down to earth 50%-38% rating produced by a Monmouth poll.  Monmouth University Polling Director Patrick Murray explained the difference by criticising the order in which Quinnipiac asked their questions while acknowledging that his poll is weighted to favor Democrats.

This morning’s Fairleigh Dickinson’s Public Mind Poll  asked the Christie approval question three ways and got three different answers in the same survey.

When asked “How would you rate the job that Chris Christie is doing as governor?” 49% said excellent or good. 49% said only fair or poor and 2% were unsure.

When asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable view of Christie, 51% said very favorable or somewhat favorable, 11% said unsure or mixed and 37% said very or somewhat unfavorable.

When given only two choices, approve or disapprove, 56% approve of Christie and 33% disapprove.  Only 11% were confused, mixed or unsure after taking that survey.

45% of the respondents identified themselves and Democratic or leaning that way, 23% were Independent, unsure or wouldn’t say, and 32% said they were Republican or lean that way.

34% of New Jersey voters are registered Democrats, 22% Republican and 45% are not affiliated with a major party.

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